Master of Mary of Burgundy: A Book of Hours for Englebert of Nassau [Hardcover]

Alexander J J G (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1993

"The happiest, sweetest, and liveliest little book imaginable."—John Canaday.

Near the end of the fifteenth century, a Flemish artist known only as The Master of Mary of Burgundy painted one of the last illuminated manuscripts for ENgelbert of Nassau, a member of the courts of rulers of the Netherlands from Charles the Bold to Philip the Fair. This edition reproduces this magnificent book, now in the Bodlein Library, Oxford, as closely as possible to the original.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Latin --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: George Braziller (August 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807613320
• ISBN-13: 978-0807613320
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,185,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A jewel, October 7, 2000

By 

K. Maxwell "katmax1" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Master of Mary of Burgundy: A Book of Hours for Engelbert of Nassau ( Bodleian Library, Oxford) (Hardcover)

This is a lovely facimile of a book hours in the bodleian library in oxford. This book of hours was made by "the master of Mary of Burgundy" in the early 16th century. In additon to the 'carpet pages' of this manuscript, various text pages are also reproduced. Many of the illustrated pages have gold leaf on them and an gold ink is used to reproduce this effect. My only complaint with this book is that this ink has in some places obscured details of the manuscript and made pages look heavier than I think they probably do in the orginal work.

If you have read any books on illuminated manuscripts in the past, you might be suprised by the number of pages you will recognise in this book. In size the book is quite small. Quite litrely the size of your palm, and this is a reflection on the actual size of the manuscript in Oxford. The publishers have tried to reproduce the facilmile as close as possible to the orginal where they could.

If you are interested in illumanated manuscipts this book is worth having.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most beautiful book I own, April 24, 2006

By 

Constant Librarian "constantlibrarian" (Columbia, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Master of Mary of Burgundy: A Book of Hours for Engelbert of Nassau ( Bodleian Library, Oxford) (Hardcover)

This title is a reproduction of a late medieval/Northern Renaissance Book of Hours or prayer book. There is just enough explaination of the artistic conventions, the revisions made as one nobleman's coat of arms replaced another, artistic conventions and medieval/early modern symbolism to let the modern reader understand the book, without going into abtruse art history discourse.

The physical book is suprisingly small--palm sized. I can look at this volume for hours to marvel not only at the calligraphy but also the details of paintings of the borders.

I am no art historian, just a book lover, and I love this little book.